Charlotte Hornets swingman Jeremy Lamb is still astounded to have come out the clear winner of the starting shooting guard spot after finishing this preseason. After being on the fringe for several seasons, picking up spot starts for injured players, the dream is still not quite one he can grasp, now a full-fledged cog in James Borrego's lineup.
“If my rookie year somebody had told me I’d be in the league six years later, seven years later, and have a chance to start, I wouldn’t have believed him,” Lamb said following practice Sunday, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
Lamb had 31 starts in his 356 NBA game appearances prior to this season, starting in less than 10 percent of the times he took the court during his six years in the league. Twenty-three of them came with the Hornets, including 18 of a career-high 80 appearances with the team that saw him average the best line of his career with 12.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 37 percent from deep.
Borrego quickly switched longtime shooting guard Nicolas Batum to the small forward position, opening up a spot for a scorer like Lamb to come in and fill it. Lamb, already familiar with most of his teammates after spending the last three seasons in Charlotte, has enjoyed the passing offense his new coach has instilled in the team early in training camp.
“It’s contagious when the best players do it: Kemba, Batum, TP (Tony Parker), Marv (Williams).” Lamb said. “When they are unselfish, it trickles down on everybody else. Whether it was a rookie or a veteran, we passed the ball to them because we’ve got to trust everybody.”
Lamb is bound to see his minutes rise once again after playing a career-high 24.6 minutes per game last season as a part-time starter, likely bordering the 30-minute mark as a full-fledged starter.
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